Taking time out with Jesus this Lent

Jesuit Communications Australia has two new prayer and reflection resources, aimed at encouraging us to spend more time with the Jesus of the Gospels this Lent.

Slow Lent

Slow Lent is a contemplative Lenten resource for use in Catholic schools and other ministries.

In the Sunday Gospels throughout Lent, we find Jesus in a number of environments: deserts, mountaintops, temples and towns. Each place plays an important part in Jesus’ journey. Slow Lent invites us to spend some contemplative time with Jesus in each of these places, not just on Sunday but for an entire week.

Starting from each Sunday’s Gospel, Slow Lent will take us more deeply into each Gospel story, to bring Jesus’ experiences to life, and to help us reflect on what they might be saying to us today. The idea is to take Lent slowly and reflectively – to commit ourselves to spending time each day with Jesus.

The reflections are designed for schools or other ministries to use in their morning staff briefing or prayer session at the beginning of the week. The daily reflection points and video links can then be provided to staff through the week, encouraging them to spend time each day in contemplation on the journey to Easter

Accompanying each reflection is a ‘Slow TV’ video clip. Each video takes you into a space that is similar to that which Jesus experienced in the Gospel story. The videos are a tool to help clear people’s minds from their daily tasks so they might contemplate the story more deeply.

Slow Lent is available on this website. Click below to access the resources.

Passion Week

The Light of Christ is the central theme of Michael McGirr’s daily reflections for Easter Week.

From Palm Sunday to the Easter Vigil Easter, Michael, a regular Madonna contributor, uses some of the works of Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610) to illustrate how Jesus brings light to even the darkest corners of our lives.

Caravaggio is known for his dramatic use of lighting and realistic observation of the human state. In his various paintings of the capture, trial and torture of Jesus, as well as the crucifixion aftermath, Jesus is often bathed in light – a figure of peace, calm and hope among his darkly-rendered tormentors.

Caravaggio’s paintings are a source of inspiration and express the challenge of Holy Week to let the suffering of Jesus bring light to every corner of our lives.

The Easter Week resource is available in print from the Autumn edition of Madonna Magazine or online here.